Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state are engaged in a poster war in their bid to take credit for the materialisation of the Paradip oil refinery.
The BJP has erected hoardings and posters with the photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the party at various locations of the city ahead of the inauguration of the 15MTPA oil refinery at Paradip February 7.
The BJD has also started erecting posters with photographs of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, Chief Minister and party leader Naveen Patnaik at various places in the city from Tuesday.
“There should be healthy competition among political parties for the development of the state and the country,” said BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma. “People of the state know what BJD has done for Paradip in the last 15 years. It is good if their approach towards Paradip is now changing,” he said in reaction to the BJD posters in which the ruling party proclaims “We are committed to the development of Paradip.”
“The BJD should not think that only the state government is contributing to the growth of the state. It should also recognise the Centre’s support. The party always cries about “central negligence”, which proves that state government always needs the Centre’s help to take up development work in the state,” Sharma said.
BJD spokesperson PK Deb rubbished Sharma’s allegations and said the ruling party is “not engaged in any poster war”. “People also know what the BJP has done for the state and for the development of Paradip,” he said. “It was Biju Patnaik who had proposed the establishment of an oil refinery at Paradip in 1994. The BJD government has extended all support for the establishment of the refinery,” Deb said. PNN
